Originally Posted by
TruF
Ooh!! Tell me more! I need a new saddle, and I loved the feel of the Selle An-Atomica that was on that Bleriot I test rode a couple months back. Is it as wonderful as you imagined?
Short answer: yes, it was wonderful.
In fact, it was so comfortable, I felt like I was "cheating" somehow (aren't you supposed to suffer to break in a new saddle?).
Of course, saddles are highly personal...and everyone is different. My personal comparison is a couple of Brooks saddles....
My previous "favorite" saddle is an old Brooks Professional that I got 27 years ago...nicely broken in, fits my sit bones...I would never part with it. I got it back when I was riding long distances, and I couldn't find a saddle that was comfortable after 60 miles or so...the thing I like about a Brooks is that it feels at 100 miles like it does right out of the gate. The Brooks Pro, however, is currently occupied on my commuting bike.
So, for my new bike (that I got last Fall), I stupidly decided to be both vain and cheap at the same time. Instead of getting another Brooks Pro, I got a Brooks Swift (mainly because it's so very cool looking) but to be cheap, I bought it used on eBay. It's a great saddle, and turned out to be 98% new, but it's too narrow for me...but since I bought it used I can't return it (it's still pretty cool-looking, though).
I was going to try a B-17 or Brooks Pro to replace the Swift, but tried out the Selle An-Atomica at a bike show and *loved* it. It feels right out of the box like my Brooks Pro did after many, many miles of riding. Even though it's incredibly stupid to ride a new saddle on a long ride, I was so confident that I put it on my bike this Saturday, rode a few miles around the neighborhood with an Allen wrench getting the fit *just* right, and then took it on a pretty stiff 100km ride yesterday.
For a variety of reasons, I've ended up with 6 saddles right now...the Selle An-Atomica is in a class by itself, but -- just to be clear -- I've only racked up one long ride on it. So, my opinion could change. Some folks think that the cutouts in the seat feel odd....you will note that the company recommends you wear "well padded" shorts on the saddle; I guess that's so you don't feel the edges of the cutout.